BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University baseball team was swept on Friday afternoon at Danny Litwhiler Field in the opening doubleheader of a crucial four-game series against Millersville University. The Marauders posted a 14-2 victory in game one and then scored four runs in the top of the seventh to post a come-from-behind, 8-5, victory in game two to complete the sweep. Bloomsburg dropped to 21-21-1 overall and 8-13-1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division while Millersville improved to 29-14 overall and 12-10 in divisional play.

In the opener, the Marauders wasted no time jumping on Bloomsburg sophomore starter, Ashton Raines (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven). Chas McCormick, who had four hits in the opener, belted the first offering of the game from Raines over the center field fence to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage. Millersville would go on to tack on two more runs, on a two-run double from Jimmy Cain, later in the inning to extend its lead to 3-0.

The Huskies got a run back in the bottom of the first against Millersville starter, Eli Nabholz. Junior Tyler Benson (Montville, N.J./Montville Township) was hit by a pitch with one out and then advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt to start the Huskies' rally. Sophomore Ryan Shiffer (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South) followed with a single through the left side of the infield to put runners at the corners with one out. Senior Damin Muth (Breinigsville, Pa./Parkland) drove the first pitch he saw from Nabholz off of the center field fence - just inches away from a game-tying home run - for an RBI double as Benson crossed the plate to cut the lead to 3-1. But, Nabholz was able to retire redshirt senior Ryuta Amaike (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) and freshman Cole Swiger (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) to get out of the inning without any further damage.

Millersville scored three more in the top of the second to take a 6-1 advantage. Mitch Stoltzfus, David Summerfield, and Manning Brookens had the runs-scoring hits in the frame for the Marauders. After a quiet bottom of the second for the Huskies, Millersville extended the lead to 8-1 with two more runs in the top of the third, both of which were unearned.

The score remained until the top of the fifth when the Marauders added another run to extend the advantage to 9-1. In the bottom half of the inning, Shiffer launched a 1-1 offering from Nabholz over the right-center field fence to bring the Huskies to within 9-2. It was Shiffer's seventh home run of the season, tying him with Swiger for the team lead.

But, the Marauders put the game out of reach with two runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh for the 14-2 victory.

Raines lasted four and one-third innings and allowed nine runs (six earned) on 13 hits. He walked two and struck out two. Redshirt freshman James Reardon IV (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) came on in relief and allowed five runs (three earned) in two and two-thirds. He struck out two. Nabholz went the distance for Millersville and improved to 7-1 on the season. He allowed two runs on six hits, walked three, and struck out eight.

The Huskies were out-hit, 19-6, in the opener. Shiffer had three of Bloomsburg's six hits while Muth added a pair. Swiger had the other hit - a bunt single to lead off the bottom of the fourth.

Game two featured a pitching matchup between two freshmen - Chad Cooperman (Allentown, Pa./Salisbury) for Bloomsburg and Tyler Yankosky for Millersville.

The Huskies struck first in the bottom half of the first inning as the hosts took a 1-0 lead. Bloomsburg loaded the bases on a single from redshirt junior Austin Edgette (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East), a walk to Benson, and a hit by pitch from Shiffer to start the inning. Muth followed by grounding into a 6-4-3 double play but Edgette scampered in for the game's first run. The Huskies then extended the lead to 3-0 after freshman Andrew Holmes (Egg Harbor Township, N.J./Egg Harbor Township) belted his second home run of the season to left-center field in the bottom of the second inning.

Millersville answered with four runs in the top of the third to take a 4-3 lead against Cooperman. Summerfield had the big blow of the inning with a two-run home run to center field.

It remained a 4-3 Millersville advantage until the bottom of the sixth when the Huskies broke through with two runs to take a 5-4 lead. Muth started the rally with a one-out single and then was pinch-run for by redshirt freshman Aaron Ovelman (Millville, Pa./Millville). Amaike singled through the left side of the infield and Ovelman scampered into third base safely. Millersville tried to nab Amaike at second as he attempted to advance, but the throw sailed into right field which allowed Ovelman to come in to score for the tying run. Swiger was then hit by a pitch to end the afternoon for Yankosky. Matt Ulrich came on in relief and balked both runners to second and third with one out. Freshman Tyler Nowmos (Wrightstown, Pa./Council Rock North) reached on an error to drive home Amaike for the go-ahead run before Holmes bounced into an inning-ending double play.

Cooperman came out to start the bottom of the seventh with a one-run lead and got Stoltzfus to ground out for the first out of the inning. But, back-to-back walks and an excuse-me infield single down the third base line loaded the bases for the Marauders with one out. Brookens drove the first pitch he saw off the center field fence to plate a pair and to give Millersville a 6-5 lead, ending the afternoon for Cooperman. Sophomore Jeremy Zezza (Exeter, Pa./Wyoming Area) came on and gave up a two-run single to Ted Williams with two outs as Millersville added a pair of insurance runs.

Millersville's Mike Mock came on in the bottom of the seventh and struck out the side for his fifth save.

Cooperman dropped to 0-4 on the season and pitched better than the numbers indicate. He allowed eight runs on 12 hits in six and one-third innings. He walked three and struck out three. Ulrich got the win for Millersville to improve to 4-2 on the season.

Bloomsburg, again, only had six hits in game two - one each from Edgette, Muth, Amaike, Swiger, Nowmos, and Holmes.

The two teams will close out the series on Saturday afternoon at Millersville's Cooper Park.